Details Model 3 interior walk-through

[gambit48]

And apparently USB controls for audio on phones. Apparently, it's been an unsolved problem longer than I thought.

 

[gregincal]

Well its very obvious our brains work very differently then, I do have a touchscreen in my current car, luckily nothing critical is controlled from it as it is a pain in the ass to operate on less than perfect roads, (not helped by moderately sporty suspension), which is probably why Honda provided a little 4 way joystick below it.

The thing with tactile controls is you don't need to see them. I certainly don't look at the gearstick, handbrake, indicator stalk or headlight stalk to operate any of them, not after the first couple of days (if that) of driving a car. Adjusting the aircon temp or fan speed in my car requires looking, as there is no adequate tactile feedback from the temp buttons or the touchscreen that you have found the right spot, the temp up and down button are side by side and not dimpled in any way so without looking I can't reliably be sure which one i'm hitting, even after owning the car for nearly 4 years.

Without the tactile feedback it is very hard to learn where exactly it is relation to your seating position. Your brain learns approximate positions then does final guidance based on tactile feedback. Your little finger touches the wiper stalk first, your brain knows your hand is high and adjusts trajectory down ward so you end up in the right place. Your index finger touches a flat bit of glass an inch too high.. no useful feedback as that bit of glass feels just like the other bit.

It would be quite interesting to conduct an experiment in a car like mine, sit the regular driver in the car and blindfold them and randomly give them instructions to turn the volume knob up or down and touch the icon on the touchscreen they use most often.. i would bet their success rate on the volume knob is >95%, but they miss a similarly sized icon on the touch screen at least 40% of the time.

Honda provided a 4 way joystick below it because their touchscreen and interface are horrible. And I bet you can't touch the volume knob without groping around, otherwise you'd be able to do the touchscreen as well. When you use it in real life you look.

 

[FlyingKiwi]

Honda provided a 4 way joystick below it because their touchscreen and interface are horrible. And I bet you can't touch the volume knob without groping around, otherwise you'd be able to do the touchscreen as well. When you use it in real life you look.

No, I really don't. Are you going to tell me I look down at the gearstick everytime I change gear too? And no, the Honda touchscreen is fine, maybe they got it wrong with whatever model Honda you drove, but there is nothing hard to use about the functions you should be using while driving unless you are on a bumpy road; the calculator and setup screens suck, small buttons too close together, but AC, Radio, trip computer etc are all fine. No swiping or double tapping, just simple large buttons. It's not pretty, but it is functional.

 

[gregincal]

No, I really don't. Are you going to tell me I look down at the gearstick everytime I change gear too? And no, the Honda touchscreen is fine, maybe they got it wrong with whatever model Honda you drove, but there is nothing hard to use about the functions you should be using while driving unless you are on a bumpy road; the calculator and setup screens suck, small buttons too close together, but AC, Radio, trip computer etc are all fine. No swiping or double tapping, just simple large buttons. It's not pretty, but it is functional.

The screen is too small and not bright enough to quickly locate and tap the elements like in the Model S. My wife has a Honda and I have a Model S and I use both all the time and there is simply no comparison between using the touch screen controls in the Honda and a Tesla.

(As far as the gear shift, the gear shift knob is big for a reason and you grab it with your whole hand. Precision is not required.)

 

[gambit48]

Our '12 Odyssey has one of the worst interfaces I've ever seen. And the Nav is one of the dumbest I've ever encountered too. I always have to use a phone as a backup GPS. Our older (and previous gen) Lexus system is much better, even if it looks uglier.

But, I can reach and adjust the volume knob without looking at it. Like a gear shift, muscle memory tells me where it generally is and because it's a physical knob that sticks up, I just need to be close to feel it and then manipulate it. Touch screen (or touch capacitive like the older Ford Sony system) don't have the physical nature to help guide you once you get in the area of it. So you have to look.

Buttons for frequently accessed things like volume or changing temps really help. On the 3, so far, the audio menu button looks on the wrong side of the screen. They have the car buttons right next to the driver, but those will likely be accessed (or much of it) while stationary so doesn't need to be the button right next to the driver. Make it the 2nd or 3rd button then, but leave the media button first instead of last.